The Yankees drop both games in their traditional doubleheader with the Indians 2-1 and 9-4

The
New York Yankees went intoWednesday’sdouble header with hopes to even up the series with the
Cleveland Indians. Yankees pitcher Jaime Garcia went into the game looking for
his first win in pinstripes, while Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer went for his
14th win of the season. It was the second game that Yankees Manager Joe Girardi
gave Aaron Judge the night off (that is until the ninth, which will be addressed
later), and it almost seemed his struggles had rubbed off on every other player
in pinstripes. Needless to say, Garcia is still searching for that win.

Photo Credit: AP

The
Indians struck first in the top of the first inning, the first run coming off a
missed catch by Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, then followed shortly after by an
RBI single from Indians DH Yandy Diaz. These were the only runs scored by the
Indians, and these runs were just enough to give them the win. With only two runs
off eight hits, the Indians practically stole a game from Yankees. With the Yankees
offensive struggles, they couldn’t make up the difference.

The
Yankees offense was abysmal this afternoon, with five hits and going 1-7 with runners
in scoring position (RISP). That one hit being from Yankees shortstop Didi
Gregorius, who ripped an RBI double into left field off a sinker from Bauer.
Sadly, it was the highlight of the day. With every spark of hope that the
Yankees could get on the board, it would be followed by an out. It was almost
as if the clutch gene was taken out of every player overnight.

Where
the offense struggled, the pitching seemed to be the high note. After his
struggles in the first inning, Garcia shaped up and didn’t allow another run through his 5.0 IP. When Chad Green
stepped on the mound, it was a thing of beauty. Green became the first player
in history to record seven strikeouts while facing eight or fewer batters in a
game. Green is also one of 11 relievers to have struck out seven hitters in as
few as three innings. Needless to say, it was a sight to see.

Photo Credit: AP

Just
when all hope seemed lost, Yankees Manager Joe Girardi sent in Aaron Judge in
the bottom of the ninth with two outs to face Cody Allen. Judge quickly went up
on the count 3-1. Shortly after, he swung at two balls, ending the Yankees
chance at a tie game. If Judge will ever get back to the player he was before
the All-Star Break is a question on all Yankees fans minds. We’ll just have to wait
and see.

Man, could this series have gone any worse? After a tough luck loss
Monday, and an infuriating loss in the first game of today’s double header, it
seemed like the Yankees had hit rock bottom. They proved us all wrong though,
getting blown out by the Indians offense and scoring just one run once again.
Jordan Montgomery buried the Yanks by giving up four runs in the first, and
Indians starter Ryan Merritt shut the Yanks down. Just a bad series. Let’s try
to forget it happened.

Bill Kostroun of AP

The game could not have started worse for Jordan Montgomery and the
Yanks. Here’s a summary:

Lindor- Single

Jackson- Walk

Ramirez- Strikeout swinging

Encarnacion- RBI single

Santana- RBI double

Diaz- Two-run single

Guyer-Single

Gomes- Strikeout swinging

Gonzalez- Walk

Lindor- Strikeout swinging

Well…at least Montgomery struck out the side? In all serious
though, it was just an awful inning. The Indians were on everything Monty was
throwing. He also had a bunch of two strike counts against the hitters, but
couldn’t put them away. After losing the first game of the double header in the
way they did, this could not have been a more crushing inning for the Yanks.

The Yankees were able to get back one of the runs in the
bottom of the second inning. Judge and Hicks singled, and with one out, Greg
Bird lined his own single into right center field to score Judge. Torreyes and
Romine grounded out to end the threat however, and the score was 4-1.

Montgomery actually settled down a bit and was able to give
the Yanks four innings. In his final three innings, the Indians only had two
base runners, courtesy of an Encarnacion walk and a Jackson infield single.
However, he was on a pitch limit of about 80-85, and at the end of the fourth,
his pitch count had reached 92. Chasen Shreve came on to pitch the fifth, and
was greeted with a bang as Encarnacion drilled his 31st homer of the
year to make the score 5-1. The sixth inning didn’t go much better, as Erik
Gonzalez and Jackson both smashed doubles to give the Indians a 6-1 lead. Caleb
Smith replaced Shreve and induced a line out of Ramirez and a strikeout of
Encarnacion to escape the inning, however.

After a one out walk to Judge in the top of the sixth,
Merritt was replaced by Craig Breslow to face Didi, who smashed a line drive
right to Encarnacion, who stepped on first to double up Judge. It was just that
kind of game for the Yanks. Even when they kind of did something right, it
would go wrong.

The Indians didn’t stop their offensive shaming of the
Yankees as the game progressed. Yan Gomes smashed a two-run homer in the
seventh inning, and Lindor hit another homer in the eighth, making the score
9-1. Both homers were off of Caleb Smith, who also pitched the ninth inning and
pitched around a first and third, one out jam.

The Yanks showed some life in the ninth, as Greg Bird
launched a three-run homer for his second of the year, but the Indians completed
the sweep by winning 9-4. It was just their eleventh loss by five runs or more
this year, which is tied with the Indians for second fewest in baseball. Let’s
hope they’re able to forget all about this and win some games against the Red
Sox this weekend.

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